Sure, there are always those supportive people, but they're no fun to joke about - and if you’re like me, when you eat less you get a little grumpy and are more easily annoyed by comments from the peanut gallery. 

So, here’s my list of the 10 annoying types of people one encounters while on a diet…

1. The Know-it-all

These people are usually obese and have never lost an ounce as long as you’ve known them…BUT nevertheless feel qualified to advise you in your efforts.  They claim to know everything about diet, exercise and healthy living – including that you’re going about it all wrong.  They’d be your lifestyle coach if you let them.

2. The Oblivion

This person is typically a 20-year old skinny chick who hasn’t hit the metabolic wall yet and couldn’t gain an ounce if she tried.  It hasn’t even crossed her mind yet that she’ll gain weight some day and so in her mind the reason you’re carrying around twenty extra pounds is because you’re a lazy, undisciplined slacker.

3. The Nazi Vegan (okay, so I said Nazi – chill out already)

This person uses your diet as an opportunity to evangelize, and explain to you in explicit detail what eating meat does to your body.  They try to remain friendly while implying that you’re a moral reprobate with the blood of Bambi on your hands.

4. The Zealot

This is the fifty year old guy who is TOO healthy.  He’s fit as a fiddle and does triathlons.  He tries to be encouraging but you get the impression he just likes to brag.  And you suddenly feel inadequate proclaiming that your goal is to run a 5K.

5. The Subversive

The sweet old lady in the office who puts a candy dish on top of the file cabinet and keeps it stocked with M&Ms.   Note that no one has EVER seen her eat a single piece of candy in her life. 

6. The Underminer

I guess this guy could be considered a Pro-active variant of the aforementioned Subversive.  This is the guy, who despite knowing about your diet and watching you eat carrot sticks at your desk every day, STILL asks you out to lunch continually and brings you a slice of pizza or a donut left over from the meeting he was just in.

7. The Ostrich

This person continually insists that you’re already too thin and you don’t need to lose weight at all.  You want to inform them that the BMI, your scale and your clothes beg to differ, but strangely you just find yourself nodding and meekly defending the very fact that you’re on a diet.

8. The Resenter

They’ve got a few extra pounds to lose themselves, but they’ve given up and although they offer mild encouragement you can tell they really want your diet to fail.  When you lose a few pounds they’ll tell you it could be a fluctuation of the scale or “water weight”.  They’re the ones who send you the link to the article informing you that 80% of dieters put the weight back on within a year.

9. The Ideologue

These people know that there is only ONE correct way to lose weight.  It might be Atkins, high protein or some Cuban banana/vinegar thing, but it’s not what you’re doing and so the unspoken message is that your efforts are doomed to failure.

10. The New Best Friend

When they hear you’re on a diet they immediately want to join you!  They want to share food and work out together and swap fat stories.  Despite the fact that this creates a logistical nightmare, many dieters like these people.  But being an introvert and a lone wolf, I’m with Mr. Incredible on this one (Fly home Buddy – I work alone).